In universities, the drive to lower energy use and reduce carbon emissions is a critical part of the work of building engineering and facilities teams. UK universities are not simply aiming to meet regulatory standards on carbon. Their environmental policies are under scrutiny from new generations of environmentally-aware students. In February 2024, the University of Edinburgh launched a ‘Take sustainability action’ scheme to encourage staff and students to make more sustainable choices. The programme uses the principles of behavioural science, and the bespoke platform aims to embed a culture of sustainability and further reduce the University’s environmental impacts.
Decarbonisation – But whatever a university is doing to tackle its carbon footprint, on a practical level, the engineers and FMs in universities must continue to tackle the day-to-day issues of managing a widely mixed range of buildings. Work on decarbonisation projects must be carried out alongside everyday operational work, so finding ways to optimise team efficiency and effectiveness is essential. One of those ‘background’ issues is water treatment. Always a critical requirement for university estates, it is becoming more important than ever as old fossil fuel heating systems are replaced with low-carbon alternatives such as heat pumps or heat networks.
Supported by government grant schemes such as the Salix funding programme, many universities have switched to these technologies for heating and hot water, removing fossil fuels from their estates. When replacing HVAC systems, water treatment is of paramount importance because it can help to alleviate immediate issues with water quality – and support the long-term operation of new equipment.
Historical debris – So when it comes to refurbishment projects to enhance efficiency and lower carbon emissions, water treatment should be part of the wider considerations. For instance, refurbishment projects can release ‘historical debris’ into the system, reducing the waters transport characteristics and impacting the efficiency of other equipment within the HVAC system as a whole.
Another issue can be that modern equipment is designed to be more efficient with smaller plant, and thinner, narrower waterways. While this should make the system more energy efficient, deposition and build-up of scale, corrosion or bacterial contamination can soon take hold.
Enwa’s EnwaMatic Side Stream Filtration and Water Treatment system is designed with these retrofitting projects in mind. It’s a preventative rather than reactive approach that protects water-side components from physical, chemical and biological processes that would otherwise impair their energy efficiency and lifetime operation.
The most important benefits of the EnwaMatic system are that it is fully automated and has a self-regulating water conditioning process that responds dynamically to the quality and quantity of system water. This provides FM teams with the peace-of-mind that the process is dealing with water quality issues in real time before they become problems.
New builds
Project teams including EnwaMatic in their designs protect design efficiencies from the get-go. Preventing deteriorations in water quality from the earliest commissioning stages means the Estates Maintenance team stand the best chance of inheriting a fully functioning HVAC system at project handover, reducing the risk of any underlying, unseen problems lurking inside the pipework.
Discussing planned preventative maintenance (PPM) strategies with all stakeholders at project design, reduces the potential for equipment that cannot be maintained properly or could readily fall into neglect in the future. Removing the ‘human element’ and manually operated systems is a huge consideration, especially where engineering resources are becoming increasingly restricted across sites.
Greener options
Achieving net carbon zero is a major focus for Estates teams and this should be viewed hand in hand with sustainability. Moving away from conventional chemical additives and disposable components towards greener, more sustainable technologies should form part of the engineering equation and final design solution.
Enwa provides water treatment that is designed for a university’s particular requirements and contributes positively to its sustainability agenda.
With the growing focus on energy efficiency, carbon reduction goals and a busy university estate to manage, automating water treatment is the modern approach to applying engineering technology for greater efficiencies – in your building services systems and your team.
If you’d like to find out more about our approach to water treatment, we can offer CPD-accredited presentations on the principles behind it, condition survey your premises and our expert engineering team will be happy to discuss to meet your site requirements.
